On Monday, August 5, 2024 we left Lepage Park in Rufus, Oregon and drove 117 miles to Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon, outside of Portland. For the first time in a long time we were seeing tall, green trees. Cindy’s mood lightened and brightened in the presence of her beloved woods.
Milo McIver State Park is located on the banks of the Clackamas River and is about 45 minutes from Portland. There are 44 RV campsites with water and electric hookups. Our site was level on an asphalt pad with water and electric hook-ups. It was also nestled in the midst of trees and shrubbery, giving us a nice feeling of privacy. We felt fortunate because a lot of the other sites in the campground had NO shrubs or even divisions between sites. There was also a burn ban in place, so no campfires were allowed.
When I was hooking up our water and electric I noticed that someone had left painted rocks on both the electrical box and the water faucet. We had seen these around campgrounds during our travels over the past 3 years, but this was the first time we had found any at our specific site. I’ve included pictures of them in our photo album for this post.
Tuesday morning we were up and out the door driving to a train station to catch the Trimet Light Rail Train into Portland for a day of exploring. OK, not really exploring. Fine, we were just going into Portland to spend time at Powell’s Books. Are you happy now?
When we got to the train station I asked a security guard for directions to the ticket kiosk and platform. He very kindly stopped what he was doing and escorted us right to where we needed to be. We were highly impressed with the level of customer service he offered and it saved us a lot of time.
The light rail train ride was about 45 minutes to get to our stop and we enjoyed the walk of 10 minutes or so to get to Powell’s Books. Portland reminds me of Austin, Texas in its feeling of “weirdness” (in a good way) and atmosphere of expression throughout the city. Or at least the part we were in.
Portland and Powell’s Books
I’ve wanted to visit Powell’s Books for years. I remember when I first ventured onto the Internet, long before Amazon existed, that if you wanted a rare or out of print book then Powell’s was the where you went online to find a copy. I remember occasionally ordering books I wanted and wishing I could just spend the day walk around their warehouse
Well, that day had arrived.
Cindy and I spent several hours wandering around the four floors filled with books at Powell’s. Granted, this is now their retail location and their actual warehouse is located elsewhere in Portland, but regardless it was Powell’s. They have new books, used books and rare/out of print books. As we explored the aisles, rows, stacks and shelves (sometimes ending up at a mysterious dead end causing you to double back), I could almost imagine what it might have felt like to walk through the Great Library of Alexandria in ancient Egypt.
OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. After all, Cindy and I have been to The Library of Congress which is much more what I imagine the Library of Alexandria to be like. Powell’s IS, after all, just a book store…but man what a book store! I think it’s pretty safe to say that if you can’t find a book you want at Powell’s you probably don’t need to read it, lol.
After maxing out our credit cards we took our wagonload of purchases across the street for a late lunch at Shake Shack. Sadly, this location did not meet the usually high expectations of their other stores that we have eaten at across the country. Service is always slow because they make each meal to order, so we did not have a problem with that. But the food was not as tasty as we have had before. I don’t know if they used different ingredients or changed their recipes or what, but we might as well have had a Big Mac for a quarter of the price. Very disappointing.
Walking back toward our train stop we built in time to stop at Voodoo Doughnuts, a Portland original. I remember when I was deployed to the Tacoma, Washington area that some of my co-workers would drive the two hours south to Portland on their days off to get their Voodoo Doughnut fix. Cindy and I waited in a long line with other customers outside the store for about 20 minutes before the security guard unlocked the door for us to go inside. We had already decided the makeup of the dozen we wanted, so we were in and out in about two minutes with our pink box of goodness.
By the time we reached our train stop our legs were sore and tired from all the standing/walking in Powell’s and walking around the part of downtown Portland that we were in. A friend and former co-worker of mine, Richard Krikava, was a former resident of Oregon and offered lots of suggestions about where to visit and eat during our time in Portland. But we were only there for one day and our schedule was pretty much set with things we wanted to see and do in our limited time. Hopefully, we’ll return someday and take advantage of his advice.
We Go Chasing Waterfalls
Wednesday, August 7th was a day for touring waterfalls, something this part of Oregon is famous for. We had arranged for us to take a guided waterfall tour with a company we found online. It turned out to be a pretty crappy “guided tour” but the best thing was it got us to each waterfall we wanted to visit without having to worry about parking Voyager at each stop. That was good because the later it got in the day the more crowded each parking area became. By the time we arrived at Multnomah, people were blocking the road waiting for a parking spot to open up.
During the early 1900s, advocates for a local scenic highway recognized that the natural beauty of the Columbia River Gorge should be preserved for future generations. Upon completion of the Historic Columbia River Highway in 1915, civic-minded landowners donated property to create scenic retreats along the route. Many of the highway’s most spectacular features — Chanticleer Point, Crown Point, Shepperd’s Dell, Latourell, Wahkeena, and Multnomah Falls – were donated by philanthropists or civic groups.
We visited Bridal Veil Falls, Shepperd’s Dell Falls, Latourell Falls, Vista House (though it was closed) at Crown Point, Horsetail Falls and Multnomah Falls. As you can see from the photos in the album, they are magnificent, beautiful and fill you with a sense of grandeur and wonder.
Mt. Hood
Thursday, August 8th we were off to drive the scenic loop tour of Mt. Hood and see the Timberline Lodge.
Mt. Hood, named after Royal Navy Admiral Samuel Hood by British explorers in 1792, is the tallest mountain in Oregon. Located approximately twenty miles east of Portland, it rises to a height of 11,249 feet. Glaciers cover more than five square miles at the top of the mountain and estimates are that they contain more than 300 million cubic meters of snow and ice. The glacier runoff from streams flow down into rivers that provide drinking water for the more than 1 million people in the Portland area. Over the last century historic photos show how rapidly those glaciers have melted, so that would not seem to be a sustainable source of water for the population.
The Mt. Hood National Forest encompasses 1,067,043 acres of land that are varied and unique. From the summit of Mt. Hood the forest slopes down to the Columbia Gorge on the northern side, and the western side is thick with trees and undergrowth while the eastern side is much drier as you descend into central Oregon. During our travels on our way here, we could easily see the differences on our routes.
The drive to Mt. Hood was beautiful, but when we reached the Timberline Lodge the parking area was much too crowded to even attempt to park and tour the lodge. We were surprised that there were so many skiers, hikers and guests in early August. We grabbed a few quick photos and then were on our way back down and over to our campground.
We both wished we had planned for a longer stay on this stop. Portland is a thriving city and the surrounding area is beautiful to explore and enjoy. We may have to make plans to return someday for a longer period of time.
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